For the last two months, residents in several wards in Bengaluru have been facing a 'stinky problem' – the garbage collection auto tippers have not been coming to collect their daily waste. Several residents have complained of garbage piling up on the roads.
In several areas like Bellandur, Ramammurthy Nagar, Kammanahalli, New Thippadandra and parts of Yeshwanthpur, civic activists allege that the civic body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), has not deployed enough auto tippers. And in several areas, the pourakarmikas, the sanitation workers, are being forced to collect waste from the residents.
"In many wards, garbage collection is not happening properly, no matter how many complaints are lodged with BBMP. The contractors are not deploying the right number of auto tippers. The autos that come to collect waste too have a maximum capacity to carry 500 kg of garbage only. That's why residents are dumping it on roads," says Ramprasad, convenor of Friends of Lakes.
According to the Assistant Executive Engineer of CV Raman Nagar, the area has only 22 auto tippers, when the area requires twice as much. The problem in the ward has escalated so much that the people have ended up dumping garbage on the main roads.
Speaking to TNM, Rukmini*, a pourakarmika in ward number 112, said that the supervisors have forced them to collect the garbage from residents and dump it directly into the compactors that transport the waste to landfills.
Renuka*, another pourakarmika in New Thippadandra, says that the supervisor Muthyalu had directed them to collect waste daily from the residential areas and dump it in one auto which then dumps the waste into compactors.
"Some residents have too much garbage and our carts cannot accommodate that much. So we tell them to dump it in the autos. But many of them have one or two months of garbage piled up in their houses because autos do not come to collect the waste every day," Renuka added.
Vishvesh Rao, a 51-year-old resident of CV Raman Nagar, says that the garbage collection autos rarely come to his locality to collect garbage. "The residents in my area are dumping the garbage near SG Palya. For some of us, who are not comfortable doing so, we have garbage bags piling up in our compound. Once in two weeks, when we find the time and if we see a compactor, we end up dumping the waste there," Vishvesh says.
Speaking to TNM, a senior BBMP official says that Bengaluru needs 4,200 auto tippers to meet the daily demand of garbage collection, however, the officials now suspect that garbage contractors are deploying 2,000-odd tippers only in order to cut costs.
"We have 4,200 registered auto tippers according to our billing records. We pay Rs 15,000 per month for each tipper. Based on the numerous complaints we have received, we suspect that contractors are not deploying all of them in order to cut costs. But they are billing us for all the autos," the official said.
BBMP Special Commissioner Randeep says that pourakarmikas are only deployed to clean the streets and not collect garbage from residents.
"Auto tippers must come every day and collect the wet waste. Dry waste can be collected once in two days," he added.
Special Commissioner Randeep also said since Wednesday, all contractors have been given Radio Frequency Identity cards as a first step to counter the problem.
"The contractors have to scan the cards allotted to each vehicle and that will register with the BBMP. It's like taking attendance," he added.
He also said that tenders for providing GPS systems in auto tippers will be called for in a few days. "Within the next two months, all auto tippers will have GPS systems. This is step two to ensure that the contractors are deploying the right number of auto tippers," he added.